Gasol looking for new agent and respect

By Ronald Tillery
www.commercialappeal.com/...10,00.html

Hope the guy who came up with "NBA offseason" didn't waste time or money on a patent for the phrase.

There is no such thing.

Team executives meeting endlessly. Rookies play again and again. Free agents parade around the country in hopes of landing lucrative deals. Most players already contractually obligated spend a considerable amount of time training.

For example, Griz forward Pau Gasol continues his attempt at getting stronger physically before he leads Spain at the Summer Olympics.

And he's apparently added the sports-agent toss to his routine.

Gasol, eligible for a long-term, mega-million contract extension, is searching for a new agent.

Again.

The guy who represented Gasol when the Grizzlies acquired him during the 2001 draft was replaced a year later by Mark Termini. Now, Gasol and Termini have severed ties after a two-year relationship.

The divorce happened shortly after the season ended with Gasol seeking to head in another direction.

"Pau and his family presented a proposal to modify our original player/agent contract," Termini said last week. "I was not willing to modify the contract to the extent Pau and his family wanted."

Termini would not offer specifics, and attempts to reach Gasol in Spain were unsuccessful.

It's safe to assume, though, that Termini would have been caught off guard by Gasol's request to devalue his services. Gasol is about to negotiate his first lucrative deal - one that could last up to six years and approach $90 million.

The standard agent's take is 4 percent, which is a price Gasol apparently desires now to spend on a high-profile representative with a star-studded stable. There already is speculation that Gasol may hire super agent Arn Tellem, who has a client list that includes Grizzly guards Mike Miller and Earl Watson, Kobe Bryant and the recently traded (Orlando-to-Houston) Tracy McGrady.

But Gasol has yet to register with an agent, the National Basketball Players Association confirmed last week.

Griz president Jerry West likely will deal with Gasol, as well as Shane Battier, once he's done adding a burly center and more shooting through free agency and trades.

Presumably, Gasol (and his new rep) will monitor whatever the Griz pay the bodyguard they desperately need next to him on the frontline. Griz target Erick Dampier reportedly wants a deal starting at $10 million.

It is not known what financial package Gasol would seek. West, though, has already made it known that Gasol is untouchable. But that hardly means that West isn't bracing for lively, if not contentious, discussions about the 7-foot Spaniard's worth.

If Gasol's abrupt change in agents doesn't signal the importance he's placed on an extension, then his comments following the season do.

"I've always been very ambitious," Gasol told The Commercial Appeal a day after the San Antonio Spurs eliminated the Griz from the playoffs. "It's not only about the money when I think about (an extension), even though there's a big difference between 60 and 90 (million). But it's not only about that. I think about the respect that I'll get with this contract. That's what I'm looking for here. I'm looking for respect from my teammates, from other players and from the franchise.

"I want to be the guy, and I think I can. But I want everybody else to know it too. When it comes down to it, (contract negotiations) will be mostly about that detail right there."

Gasol remains under contract for the 2004-05 season, and would become a restricted free agent next summer if he doesn't sign a contract extension by November.